Inuzuka Anthem
by SHpanda4354
Summary: So, Inuzuka's have a bit a temper, right? And poor Kiba, he grew up with a strong female influence... Well, he's trying to do this nice thing for Hinata and these local kids are just out to get him. What's a guy to do?


Inuzuka Anthem

SHpanda

"I played golf, I'm not good at golf, I never got good at it. I never got a hole in one, but I did hit a guy in one. And that's way more satisfying. You're supposed to yell 'fore.' But I was too busy mumbling, 'there ain't no way that's gonna hit him.' "played golf... I did not get a hole in one, but I did hit a guy. That's way more satisfying..."

-- Mitch Hedberg (1968 - 2005)

---

On Friday nights, there's always one place to find Kiba Inuzuka. It's this little hole-in-the-wall arcade/sports bar called Marble. Video games, drinks, sports--what more could a guy ask for? It even has karaoke, pool tables, and a small bowling alley. On the particular night in question, the brown haired young man had persuaded Naruto and TenTen to meet him around nine-thirty. Unfortunately for their party, the hangout closed its doors not long after ten.

"C'mon! Half a lap to go!" a shout from a corner of the crowded arcade floor and the only ones that seemed to hear it were the two kids occupying two of the remaining three vehicular consoles for the game--and their friends. "Just a little more and you'll have it!" The brown car in the centre veered around a sleek, red Minimini as Kiba's hand went through the motions of shifting gears. The little blond twerp in the far console had decided to ruin his run for a new high score by nudging his back bumper on the last lap, causing the fully- modified Nissan to veer off the cliff. Retribution came during the next round in the form of lapping the little shit thrice (knocking him off the cliff each time) and still making the Top Twenty list.

"Jesus Christ, Jae-yun!" a light brunette was standing next to the blondeblond's chair--nearly in it with him. Her boyfriend had just fallen off the same cliff for the seventh time. "When are you going to give up and come sing with me?" The black boy sitting beside him laughed.

"Jay, you came here to spend time with Mina, not get your ass handed to you after picking a fight."

"Shut the fuck up, Krys," he growled as his car blinked back onto the road, "I'm going to beat you!"

The yell was loud enough, it could have been directed at Kiba, not that he cared. His name filling the Top Twenty list was a near goal and the tickets hauled in would bring him one step closer to the Boo plush for which he had plans. His game card--however--said that this would be his last race. Great, one spot left for his name.

Red. Yellow. Green! Another track without railings, those kids are suicidal. The guy in the blue Midget's not bad, not a car for this track though. Shift gear. Gas. One loop left. Shift gas. Lap 2. Boost light, short cut. Shift. Gas. Last loop. Shift. Lap 3. Ah. There's the red Mini--bye-bye! Shift. Gas. Loop. 4. Lap the Midget. Kill the Mini. Shift. Loop. Last. Time: Hurry. Tap the Mini. Loop. ¡Hola Midget! "Shit!" The smile was ripped cleanly from Kiba's face as the brunette toyed with his gear shift. "What the fuck?!" He pushed her hand away, trying to maintain focus on the race, so close. Clean time is lost but he could still make 10-15 range--if she hadn't put hishit hand down her shirt!!

She screamed. He wrenched himself away from the console--the race left unfinished. She was holding her chest as if the shirt had been pulled down too far.

"What the heck is your problem?!" he demanded, not daring to go near her, but not letting her get away.

"What are you talking about? You're the one with the hand down my shirt!" she countered. Security. Shit.

"Is there a problem, Miss?"

"I was watching the racing game from his screen when all of a sudden he grabs me and stuffs his hand down my shirt." She was cute, polite, innocent. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be able to pull back and just punch her in the face. His own contorted distastefully as a female security guard was called over.

"How old are you miss?"

"16." Shit on a fucking stick, how young before they extra charges kick in?

"Thank you. Please talk to Ms. Asamoto," the guard was about average size. Well, not much bigger than Kiba. The look he gave him said that he was in a ten-foot hole that would only get deeper.

"Listen, that girl--"

"Save it." Kiba's mouth twitched, comforted only by the knowledge that charges could only be filed if they took his statement as well. And from the smile on the blondeblond's face, Kiba knew he was more thanthat well aware that his girlfriend had had another man's hands on her breasts, but just didn't care. "How old are you?"

"19, sir." The race was over, the black kid won. No new high score.

"You're just within the age range. I can't charge you for anything related to that. Sexual misconduct, however, is different. So please, next time you want to try to make up with your girl don't do it like that and not in a public place."

"She's not--"

"I don't care what you have to say, kid. I care that you cool off, play games and lay low for a while. Don't do anything that will cause attention, and stay away from that girl, do you hear me?"

"Sir." He unclenched his fist as he stared after the questionable guard. Punching would be nice. Virtual fighting game...there's always such a long line, but air hockey works just as fine.

Kiba's brain filled with incoherent seething; this was not how he wanted to spend his last night as a teenager. He quickly marched out onto the breezeway, the cold night air refocusing his mental state. The race was fine; hefine. He could get the high score later tonight. Hinata's party was fast approaching but a few hours could do not harm. What bothered him more, the longer he took to calm down, was that that girl has so little respect for herself that she would use her body on other people to get her boyfriend what he wanted. Worst of all, the boyfriend seemed to encourage it. His hands fisted, could feel the welts forming in his palms.

It was time to let outour the remaining anger throughwith a physical outlet. Quitting the company of the other patrons supplying their nicotine addictions, Kiba turned back into the darkened games hall. Opening the door, a hand caught his shoulder.

"What's got you so wound up?" an accompanying voice queried in an assured feminine tone. He turned to face TenTen's questioning gaze.

"Just some punk brats," he smiled, "they couldn't beat me in a game." The continued into the games parlor, Kiba leading the way.

"Which game?"

"Auto Gear 4." The woman laughed.

"They must not come here very often," she said, "So why were you outside? After something like that, you'd usually be here ASAP." The question was punctuated with a gesture at the air hockey tables at which they had just arrived.

"Because I've got three weeks left to get my prize and I don't feel like getting banned for two months for punching some shitty little prat in the face." The answer started calmly but quickly escalated to a growl. TenTen stared at the brunette as he swiped his personal game card into the machine, bringing it to life. He hadn't told her what the kids had done, but it was obviously a rather volatile button that they had been pressed. It was also obvious that whatever methods Shino was using to get Kiba's temper under control were working wonders.

Seven points into the game, TenTen up five to two--Kiba thrust his free hand into his pocket. The cha-ching of the plastic disc dropping into his tray had him cursing and glaring daggers at his companion. A cursory glance was made at the caller ID before he hurriedly spoke into the phone.

"I don't care what goddamn excuse you have for being this fucking late you sick fuck-bunny, just get your ass over to air hockey." The neon disc fell to the table as a darted response made its way to Kiba's ears. TenTen looked on in amusement as blood and shock filled his face, more so when she saw how the air was slowly moving the puck.

"I didn't invite you, bastard, but the words still apply." She smiled. So Sasuke had tagged along. That wasn't too surprising. The man across from her cursed a goodbye as the ka-chink of the puck brought him back to the game table. "Dammit, TenTen! I was on the phone." The machine sputtered, air flow slowing, shuddered dead.

"I didn't touch it the last time, you're the one that let it fall, and the table did all the work," she grinned pointedly, swiping her card to revive it.

As Kiba launched the disc, Sasuke's frame leaned against the centre's pole. Naruto's eyes fixed on the green circle, standing beside his brunette friend after pushing a soda cup into the raven's hand. This time TenTen lost five to seven.

"So why'd he come?" Kiba asked taking the cup filled with root beer that the blond handed him. Kiba clapped his hand over Naruto's mouth a second later. The blond's smirk wasn't appreciated by two thirds of his company. "The non-gross answer." Sasuke had taken Kiba's place to play TenTen in a final bout of air hockey.

"I heard about the plush." The raven answered. Kiba glared at his friend. "I thought I would try to help as well."

"These two aren't even supposed to be helping. I'm supposed to get the points I need all by myself so that it'll be my present that she gets."

"Oh, don't worry," Sasuke shot across the din of clicking metal and plastic. "You're still paying. I can get you 2000 tickets at least for eight tokens." Kiba thought for a moment, considered. Give Sasuke $10 and half of the remaining tickets were had... not bad.

"Fine." The ca-chink of the slotted puck timed with the decisive comment. "I'll go refill the card." Naruto volunteered to accompany Kiba to the cashier. The card system that Marble had was one that Kiba generally liked. In order to play any game, with the exception of the coin games, you had to swipe a game card. The card kept a count of the amount of money credit you had as well as the points and tickets--which come from some games and can be redeemed for points. Kiba flipped his card over in his hand repeatedly.

"You haven't told anyone else have you?" he asked his blond friend. He worried the edges of the lavender flower stuck to the corner of the his prize card. He had purchased this card back in February determined to make some notable contribution to Hinata's going away party with the plush prize.

"No," Naruto replied, "This was more of a 'You're-not-going-anywhere-unless-you-tell-me-why-you-need-to-go' thing. I had to." Kiba shot him a skeptical look.

"So that's why you were late..." It was an open ended comment. He wasn't going to ask anymore than was necessary about it. A quick flash of the first and only time he tried to pry into Naruto's time management skills revisited his consciousness. Damn. He thought he had suppressed that memory. Of course, he was also fairly sure that he didn't _want_ to know the full details of why Sasuke hadn't been complacent about letting Naruto leave. Those were also unwanted memories.

Kiba turned to head towards the automated vendors; swiping his card, the brunette shot a glance at his blond friend leaning over the side of the machine. Naruto's eyes were distant, his face muddled with a frown. The withdrawn, quite Naruto was someone Kiba hadn't quite gotten used to yet.

"Yo, that job you found me," Kiba began, regaining his friend's attention, "that guy seems awfully impressed that I got a recommendation from you. What did you do?"

"I just worked there," he shrugged. He fed the machine a ten.

"He wanted me to ask you back," the brunette said quietly, "You've gotta be one helluva worker. He keeps comparing me to you." The blond laughed. Kiba felt the hollowness slowly ebbing into his bones.

"He knows I can't do that," he replied, pushing away from the machine as his friend finished. They pushed their way through a crowd of people now gathered around the near by Guitar Hero console. The bass was too loud for Kiba's taste on this machine for him to bother playing here much. He turned back to his younger friend in reply as more teens rushed past, pushing between the two of them. Kiba's eyes grew wide before he quickly turned to walk away. Muttering to himself, he missed the slight twitch Naruto gave.

Halfway to the air hockey tables, and Naruto had caught up with him, grabbing his arm. For a reasonReason unknown, Kiba's face shone with irritation. Naruto brushed it aside,aside. "Pockets."

"Huh?" The confused look he received told Naruto that the foul mood was focused onat him.

"Check your pockets." Quizzically, Kiba complied. The dull irritation on his face quickly soured.

"Mother fuckers took it." Naruto snatched the arm of his gamer friend and dragged him back to the air hockey tables, said friend only barely complying. Upon arriving, the blond young man usurped the playing positions of their raven friends at the table--who both quickly complied seeing the soon-to-be-twenty-year-old's face and demeanor. Sasuke stood near Naruto as he began to play the other boy. TenTen leaned against the nearby railing that separated the gameis section from the billiard tables.

Two rounds later, Kiba was playing Sasuke after the pair of boys had dodged a few flying discs. Naruto was nursing a wounded hand, next to their female companion and the playing raven was a bit more than pissed of at the brunette. "What happened, Naruto?" The soft query barely reached the intended's ears.

"Pick-pocketing while crossing the Guitar Hero crowd. The prize card is gone." He Ccontinued staring at the table, holding his right hand in his left as he explained to the woman next to him.

"Really now." She sighed and pushed off of the railing. She grabbed the wrist of Kiba's playing hand and with her free one, punched him in the face. "Stop wasting your money and go get that prize in the racing game. Sasuke can get the tickets he promised you and with all four of us helping, you'll have them back in no time. You're moping and it's pathetic. If you want to make a good impression with your confession, injuring your friends isn't the way to do it." Kiba's eyes--wide with shock--reflected the light back at her for a moment before he turned back to the table.

His arm shook--gripping the paddle with white knuckles--as he laughed, a false, forced motion to get the right endorphins pumping. Or so Hinata said. With a glance up at the score, he pushed the puck into his goal--machine sputtering to a dead silence enveloped in the bustling noise of the surrounding arcade.

"Well," Kiba heaved a sigh, pushing off of the table. His face rose to his friendsfrineds with aI painted, determined grin. "Lets get this show on the road." He fished in his pockets for some more bills. "Sasuke, here's a twenty for your tokens. TenTen, could you do your magic with the Deal or No Deal game?" He handed her a ten and looked to his blond classmate, sizing him up. "How long since you've played?"

"DDR or Guitar Hero?" He smiled back. "I'm better at pinball. Always." Kiba considered. The two boys had used the game card to achieve the high score on the DDR machine in early May, so they couldn't readily receive another prize from that for a while. He wanted to stay away from Guitar Hero for now. Then, there was the matter of the game per point ratio of pinball...

"How good?"

"For you?" Naruto grinned, "Call me Tommy."

"Let's see you put this money where your mouth is," the brunette matched the grin with a five and a ten. It wasn't easily that a player could get points out of pinball for a profit, but when it did happen it was in large amounts. "I'll be at the Auto Gear wall. Thanks guys, I'll see you later." With that he left them, headed for the place where he'd begun his night. "Let's hope this doesn't end how it began," he muttered darkly to no one in particular.

Having been left to its own devices, Kiba's mind had begun to pay attention to the music barely audible over the din of the crowd. It sounded like Skillet, but he wasn't placing any bets. He was sure that the song was in its final rifts and he was nearing the dance floor. Upon reaching the cesspool of flesh, sweat, light and hormones, the brunette quickened his paced. Eyes shut tightly as he pleaded to ignore the song.

However, the chords were ingrained into his being. Fists tightened, jaw clenched and his pace fell into rhythm with the beat. This was going to end badly. Shino wouldn't let him go out into public alone for a while. His friends were all going to give him a few weird looks at least. So what? It didn't fucking matter. All those kids needed to know was that:

_I wanna start a fight!!_

Rationale forgone, Kiba headed upstairs to the gift counter, knowing that when the brats find the points on the card, that'll be their first stop. Lucky him, there wasn't a wait. The blond prat and his girlfriend were already at the counter and she was pointing out items. He reached for his shoulder, wrenched him around and didn't think twice.

KRACK! Blood. On the blond'sblonds mouth, trickling from his nose. On Kiba's knuckles. Staining the grey fabric of the young boy's tee, the god-awfully patterned carpet. The carpet. Who's carpet. Marble. In public. Bad.

Kiba pulled around for another hit in his victim's stomach, the kid at least defended himself. He blockedBlocked the second blow and landed one of his own on Kiba's jaw. So be it. "Give and Take" is the name of the game. Not that the instigator was paying much attention, but the drunks on the upper level, being the drunks that they were, saw the fight and decided to join in on the fun. Soon the whole upper level was in chaos and it was a frenzy for the doors among the minutely sane. Security guardsGuards pushed their way toward the center of the commotion, as Kiba was pulled from thehis maelstrom by strong, familiar hands. Firmly claspedgrasped byto the rescuing appendage, the irate brunette was led outside. The cool air broke his mind set and Kiba began to realize what was going on now that his fervor had been assuaged. Then the hands shoved him against the brick wall,wall. That was something he did notn't need.

"Dammit Inuzuka! If that was the plan, you should've told us! Not gone and done it on your own!" Naruto's furious face was closer than the adrenaline drunk mind of the brunette was comfortable.

"Back the fuck off, Naruto!" He shoved the blond away, receiving displeased looks from all those present, theparties present. The raven more irate than the victim. Kiba then leaned back against the wall, nursing his head wound. "Gimme a minute. It's still there." TenTen was sure she heard him mumbling in rhythm. She looked on quizzically, arms crossed. Aftercrossed; after a moment, she spoke:

"Being the eldest person here, I feel obligated to say this but... That was a fucking stupid stunt you pulled back there, Kiba. Don't do that again. And oh, what's the other thing? Oh, yeah! Being in any alley doesn't mean we're in the clear!" She grabbed the injured man's hand and gestured for the couple to follow. The two were ushered into her back seat, when they found the Wrangler inwrangler a dark parking lot; Kiba took shotgun. She hurried out of downtown and towards her apartment, a good general direction until someone 'fessed'fessed up directions',directions, at least. "So, Kiba, what exactly was that back there?" She asked when she was sure he was calm. He turned his head away from the open window and sheepishly gazed at his cohorts.

"The song... ah... Sis calls it the Inuzuka Anthem..." he began, "I guess I've heard it enough while listening to her gripe about things that piss her off and wanna hit something that it makes me wanna do the same..." He smiled back, a little. Sasuke turned his head to the window, suppressing the laughter that roared from behind and beside the brunette. He couldn't help but join in. It was kinda funny. Especially when it was a break up song... for girls. God he needed to just LEAVE his family.

So what?

---

AN: So, this is a first in a series of oneshots that will inhabit the same alternate universe... As an aside, yes, I did get inspiration for this from P!nk's "So What." The narration's a bit wonky in parts but it fits. I hope you enjoyed it. I did. :p


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